Daily Thrifty Tips
Volume Three, Number 58, June 9, 2004
http://www.ThriftyFun.com
Hello,
Yesterday's issue of the TF News was about cooking with dried beans. For those who don't know about the TF News, it's our weekly newsletter. You can find links to the content from yesterday's TF News in the More Reading section.
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Thanks for reading
Susan
Today's newsletter contains:
Today's Tips:
- Plantar Fascitis Tip
- How to Increase the Value of your Home for Pennies
- Personalized Bath Towel Sets
- FreeCycle.org
- Saving Money on Shampoo
- Featured Feedback: Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Containers
- Featured Feedback: RE: Cheap Car for First Time Driver
- Today's Recipe: Asparagus with Ginger
New Requests:
- Need Shelter for an Outdoor Wedding Reception
- Removing Permanent Marker from Tan Pants
More Reading:
- Budget Veggie Gardens From Kitchen Scraps
- Paying Off Your Credit Cards and Other Bills
- Bean Recipes Online
- Cooking with Dried Beans (and Peas)
Today's Tips
Plantar Fascitis Tip
This is a "cheapie" health tip I discovered when I was in a great deal of pain from plantar fascitis in my foot. After trying $40 worth of over the counter orthotics, I discovered that tape used to bind bandages does the trick to get measurable relief - in my case nearly pain-free. Buy the kind of first aid tape that doesn't rub off in your shoes and cut a strip long enough to go from the center of the ball of your foot to about one third of the way back on the heel pad. Place it in the middle of the foot, flex toes UP, press tape down, and relax. You need to wear very comfy shoes or sandals and you'll be walking NEARLY normally in a couple of hours! By E Berry
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How to Increase the Value of your Home for Pennies
We couldn't afford to repaint our coral pink Tucson, AZ manufactured home. And the leased lot was landscaped with large rock we couldn't even walk across without twisting an ankle. We'd like to sell when the teens are grown, and these homes on leased lots do not appreciate in value, so we decided to make the best of it.
We shoveled out the rock and replaced some areas with smaller pea gravel ($8 a ton at a place around the corner), but mostly created raised beds of native wildflowers - seeds donated from neighbors' spent flowers and collected in the wild - and the dirt came from a site where a house had just been moved away (we were told we could have the dirt). Creeping thyme needs almost no water and becomes a lush walkable lawn when it spreads across the yard.. Neighbors also gave us fruit trees saplings grown from seed.
Accents in the garden include a section of picket fence painted to match the house trim. The fence came from the dumpster. We also found two picnic benches there and they are sitting in the backyard among the new flowers and the two trees already here when we came. The local nursery also gives away all its broken pot shards. I collected the top round edges and made a scalloped border around the front of the yard and used other larger pieces to border the beds.
A homemade window box and some gingerbread accents changed the face of the house entirely. On the porch are pre-WWII cane chairs and tables we found at a yard sale for $25. We also bought 5 ceiling fans for $5 and my husband installed the ones that worked in the house. All the house plants are actually cuttings (given to me by a neighbor) in jars of water and they are so lush, you can't see the jars at all.
vNow we have a pretty 30's like cottage instead of an eyesore. Our water bill hasn't gone up at all since the plants are mostly native, and neighbors say they like to walk by our home because it is so pretty.
I've been told we could easily get $65-$70K for a repossessed home for which we paid much less. One thing we did was read other people's ads to see what folks looked for when buying a home here. The ($5 used) screen door, ceiling fans, fruit trees and landscaping seem to be very high on the list of desirables. We also made a linen closet out of an unused hall closet using the white wire shelves from the kids' closets that didn't suit their needs (stuff falls down between the wire).
Perhaps the tip is: if you can't beat your home, don't also beat your brains out! Work with what you've got and you will find a way to increase it's market value and have fun at the same time!
By Allison Dey
View Article: Click Here
Personalized Bath Towel Sets
A good craft for kids gifts. You can also make wedding presents, housewarming presents, etc.
An idea I came up with several years ago was to take a regular bath towel (the real nice thick ones are harder to use unless you have a heavy-duty sewing machine) and sew fabric along one end of it and make a matching hand towel and washrag to go with it.
I use piping, eyelet lace, etc. around the edges, but here recently I saw a lady at a craft fair that just folded the rough edges under, ironed them and sewn over the top and left it at that. She explained that it kept her cost down for her to make more money from her crafts, but it sure makes a difference in how it looks if you do use the edging materials.
This is quick and easy to do and I usually find a fabric that matches the personality of the person I am making it for. If they love horses, I find horse material, etc. This is a unique gift that nobody else can get them.
Depending on how much time I have I take the leftover material and make a matching drawstring bag they can use for overnights with friends, etc.
For my nephew I made him a matching pocket first-aid kit and filled it with band-aids and also a small drawstring bag that I filled with marbles.
I have also bought solid colored kitchen tea-towels and sewn a band on the end to match peoples kitchen decoration for a kitchen towel too.
By Tawnda
View Article: Click Here
FreeCycle.org
Check out http://www.freecycle.org. This site is for people within a community to post items they wish to get rid of or they are looking for. No money is exchanged, all items are free for the taking to the first person who responds. The taker is responsible for the pick up. I am not an owner or moderator of this site, just a very satisfied member who wants to share the news.
http://www.freecycle.org
By Kellie S
Post Feedback: Click Here
Saving Money on Shampoo
All shampoo is so thick, so I saved an empty bottle, filled 1/3 of the bottle with warm water, and then added shampoo. Works well for our family, it's somewhat diluted when you shampoo. You actually get more "shampoo" coverage since it's easier to work into your hair.
By liz2004
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Featured Feedback: Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Containers
Also grow potatoes in container...
Plant potatoes in several inches of soil in bottom of large plastic trash can. I didn't add drainage holes. As green tops grow, cover with soil a layer at a time. Makes it easy to retrieve potatoes at end of the Summer. Mine are doing quite nicely on my deck this year. Thumbelina carrots also do very well in containers.
By Ruth
For more container gardening ideas visit: Click Here
Featured Feedback: RE: Cheap Car for First Time Driver
We have run into two problems with buying used cars. First, check the availability of parts. My son found that he loves his older Jeep Wagoneer but CANNOT find parts. This has turned into quite a problem; we have looked everywhere! Then my other son bought an older Mercedes for a very good price, but the replacement parts are incredibly expensive, too expensive for him.
By Anna
Read more tips: Click Here
Today's Recipe: Asparagus with Ginger
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger root
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 ½ lb asparagus, trimmed and cut in 2" (5 cm) lengths
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp honey
Directions:
Heat oil in wok or frying pan. Add ginger and green onions.
Cook gently for about a minute - until you can smell onion & ginger.
Add asparagus and stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
Combine soy sauce, vinegar & honey. Add to skillet and cook
for 1 minute. Don't overcook.
NOTE: When buying asparagus look for fat stalks with tightly
closed tips. Trim the bottom off. If it's tough keep cutting small
portions off the end until it's more tender. Or you can peel the
tough end - the inside of the stalk won't be tough.
Asparagus is delicious without seasoning. Lay in 1 - 2 inches of
water and cook for 3 - 5 minutes. Asparagus will turn bright
green & bend easily when cooked.
From: http://www.CanadianCountryGifts.com
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Lots of wonderful feedback is generously posted by readers each day.
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Tip Contest
Submit a thrifty tip and you might win... 
The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Learn how to save money and resources with this compilation of three successful volumes packed with sensible advice, hints, recipes, tips, tricks, and strategies.
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New Requests:
Need Shelter for an Outdoor Wedding Reception
Hello, we are planning an outdoor reception, which is risky weather-wise. Anyone have any inexpensive ideas for providing cover in case it rains? It will be a pretty big reception on a friend's property. They have a huge yard but a small house so we need some shelter outside. Thanks, Hope
This article has 0 Feedback. View Article: Click Here
Removing Permanent Marker from Tan Pants
Does anyone know how to remove red Sharpie permanent marker ink from tan pants? Susan
This article has 0 Feedback. View Article: Click Here
Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit
your request here: Click Here
More Reading
Budget Veggie Gardens From Kitchen Scraps
By Ron Williams
It does not matter whether you put your kitchen scraps in the compost or the bin, did you know that you could grow many of your favourite fruit or vegetables from those scraps. Indeed, unless your compost is very well matured you will find stray veggie seedlings may appear wherever you deposit the compost.
View Article: Click Here
Paying Off Your Credit Cards and Other Bills
By Terry Rigg
If you maintain a balance on your credit cards you are probably paying hundreds of dollars a year in interest. This is money that could be put to better use.
View Article: Click Here
Bean Recipes Online
There are lots of great bean recipes online. Here are some links we found. Feel free to add your links in the feedback forum. If you have a beans recipe that you would like to share with the ThriftyFun community you can submit it here: Click Here
View Article: Click Here
Cooking with Dried Beans (and Peas)
Beans, beans, the frugal fruit, the more you eat them, the more you save money! Actually beans are a legume but there is no question that they are a frugal staple in any diet.
View Article: Click Here
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Thanks
Susan
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